Sacrifice
by obsessed1
Summary: John needs to learn to save himself.


Sheppard leaned back in the pilot seat and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. The headache had started an hour ago and didn't show any signs of leaving any time soon. That was probably the oxygen deprivation, but then McKay would figure that out pretty quickly.

There was a ragged cough from the rear of the 'jumper.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Are you?"

Sheppard twisted to look behind him and glowered in the direction of Solin. The middle aged man was hunched forwards. Both hands were clasped tightly in a mass of thick greasy hair.

Sheppard stood up and leaned forward on the console to get a better view of Lorne. "I'm fine," he told Solin before activating his earpiece. "You finished your flyover?"

Lorne scratched the back of his neck and nodded. "I'll get my men to search the facility?"

"They're not on that planet any more."

"You're sure about that?"

"I searched that facility from top to bottom and took the 'jumper for a spin around the mainland. No sign of them."

"I could still send some men over there. Maybe there's a clue-"

"No," Sheppard said. "No-one's to go back there. That's an order."

Lorne didn't question his judgement. Instead, he said. "McKay's on his way to fix the 'jumper. Hopefully we'll have you out of there soon. How's our _guest_ doing?"

Sheppard tried to ignore the raspy breathing behind him. "He's fine. Not talking yet, but I'm hoping to change that."

Lorne looked distracted and then he smiled. "Hang tight and we'll get you out of there."

"McKay here?"

Lorne grimaced and Sheppard could already hear that McKay was mid-rant as he approached the major.

"I take it he's not happy."

"That's an understatement."

Sheppard dropped back into his seat and de-activated his comm. He didn't need to listen to their conversation to know what McKay would be saying. No doubt he was bitching about being pulled away from important research.

"I'm not going to talk."

Sheppard felt his pocket for the Tylenol and then dry swallowed two tablets.

"That's not going to help."

000

Sometimes McKay hated being indispensible. Especially at two o'clock in the morning when he had just managed to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

All he knew was that Sheppard's 'jumper had malfunctioned and had gone down just short of the 'gate. As he stepped out of the event horizon he could see that Sheppard _really_ had gone down just short of the 'gate. A few inches closer and the rear end would be sheared off by any incoming wormhole.

A second 'jumper was aligned next to it and Lorne's men were standing guard. On first inspection the 'jumper looked undamaged and there were no score marks in the earth that indicated the landing had been a rough one.

"Well, I'm here," he said looking up at the sun. This was seriously going to screw up his sleep cycle.

Lorne looked genuinely relieved. "Great. Work on getting him out. I've got to go update Woolsey." He clicked his earpiece. "Sir. I'll be right back. I'm sure McKay'll have you both out in no time. You gonna be okay?" He listened for a minute and then smiled. "Right. Just try not to do anything stupid until I get back."

"What's going on?"

"Major Saunders and his team have disappeared."

"What? How?"

"He doesn't know. Apparently after his check in, Saunders radioed and said they were under fire. By the time he got back to the facility they were all gone."

"You just said McKay will get you _both_ out of there."

"He's got someone in there that knows where they are. Only he won't talk. And we don't know what we're dealing with here so I'd prefer to get the colonel out as soon as possible."

McKay watched Lorne leave and then headed round to the front portal. He re-calibrated his earpiece and gave it a tap.

"Sheppard?"

"Here," Sheppard said dropping into the pilot seat.

At this level he could see straight in. There was a man hunched over in the back with his head down.

"What have you done to the 'jumper then?"

Sheppard glowered at him though the glass.

"Let me get hooked up to the ship and I'll see what I can do. It's probably a fried circuit. You have tried the manual release? Right?"

"Yes, Rodney."

"And?"

"The handle broke off in my hand."

McKay snorted out a laugh in response. That could only happen to him. He headed to the side of the 'jumper so he could gain access to the circuit panel.

"Did you notice anything while you were in flight?"

He prised the panel open and balanced his laptop tablet in the crook of his elbow.

"You can answer at any time. Preferably today. Sheppard?"

"Sorry. No. Everything was working fine."

"So what happened?"

"Controls went dead in my hands."

"And you managed a perfect landing?"

"It happened as I was getting in position for the 'gate."

McKay studied the readouts on the laptop and was surprised by the findings. "Well most systems seem to be functioning within their normal parameters, but… life support's off!"

"You like working to a deadline," Sheppard told him.

"You had to notice it'd stopped working. The HUD would have come up and-"

"No warning lights flashed up."

"Are you sure?"

"I think I would have noticed, Rodney."

"That's odd. Are you sure?"

"Yes i'm sure."

"According to my readings you're down to twenty minutes worth of oxygen. Why didn't you dial in sooner?"

"The on-board DHD didn't work."

"You normally dial the 'gate before you get this close to it."

"I don't need twenty questions, Rodney. I need you to fix this."

"So you have to wait until you'd missed your check in?"

"Rodney!"

"Fine. You've got oxygen tanks in there right? You can use those when the air gets too thin. Sheppard?"

"Yeah. I see them."

"I'm going to try and get that door opened."

"Great."

"So, who is he?"

"Just some guy."

"And he was in the facility alone?"

"Yes."

"That seems odd."

"I know. That's why I was bringing him back with me."

"If I happen to get this door opened in the next few minutes, tell me-"

"He's not armed. I am. He's not going anywhere."

"Oh, good. Because I'd hate to save you and then, you know, be killed immediately afterwards.

000

Sheppard smiled. McKay really was one of a kind. He tugged out his earpiece. "Where are my men?"

Solin raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was tinged a blue colour. He was obviously hypoxic. About an hour ago he had noticed blood seeping from Solins nostrils and the corners of his mouth.

"Where are my men?"

"I don't have to answer your questions. I have nothing to lose."

"Everyone has something."

"Not me," Solin laughed, but it quickly dissolved into a cough that seemed to choke him. "Not anymore. You are…aware of my circumstances."

"You die here and it'll all be for nothing."

"Your people know nothing of me. They will fear for your safety and make every attempt to get you out of here. It won't be for nothing."

That much was true. McKay would find a workaround and get him out of there. If that failed they'd start cutting through the hull. He knew McKay would be reluctant to start cutting into one of his ships. He'd at least leave that as a last resort.

"I want you to tell me where your men took-"

Solin waved him away with a weak wave. "I will not tell you. You are wasting your time."

Sheppard sagged back onto the bench and tapped his fingers against his sidearm.

Solin hacked into his fist and strained for air. Sheppard reached for the oxygen tank above Solins head.

"What is that?"

"Something that will help you breathe."

"I don't want it."

Sheppard cut the plastic ties around his wrist and easily managed to pin Solins hands behind his back. He bound Solins hands and then secured the oxygen mask over his mouth and opened the valve on the tank.

Solin twisted and squirmed and tried to remove the mask, but it wasn't coming off.

"My objective hasn't changed," Solin explained, his voice muffled by the mask.

000

"What's going on?"

McKay jumped and glared at Ronon. "Would you not do that?"

Ronon shrugged. "What?"

"Sheppard's trapped in the-"

"Lorne told me."

"He tell you Sheppard's not alone?"

"Yeah." Ronon said. "You able to get him out?"

"I've only just started working on the problem."

"So you'll have him out in a minute."

McKay rolled his eyes and concentrated on the readings. "Why are you here anyway?"

"It's Sheppard."

"He's fine. Well, aside from life support being off." He looked behind him. "Where's Teyla?"

"Torren's sick."

"Oh," McKay said. "He okay?"

"Yeah."

Ronon disappeared to the front of the ship. There were sounds of feet scuffing against metal.

"You better not be climbing up the front of that jumper!"

"Too late," Ronon shouted back.

000

There was suddenly a loud tapping on the front portal and Sheppard jumped.

"I'll keep you alive for as long as it takes for you tell me where my men are," he said, before heading towards Ronon.

He remembered the earpiece just as he reached the front compartment.

"You took your earpiece out!" Ronon accused, once it was snugly in place.

"McKay was giving me an earful."

Ronon nodded and readjusted his grip on the front of the 'jumper. He couldn't just stand there like a normal person. He had to go that extra mile.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good."

Ronon's eyes narrowed and Sheppard attempted to block his view to the back.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's fine."

"Looks sick."

"We're low on oxygen."

"He talking?"

"Not so much."

"What's wrong?"

Sheppard tried for an easy going smile, but he knew it hadn't reached his eyes, because Ronon was reaching for his blaster. "Something's wrong."

There was never any fooling him.

"I'm getting you out of there."

Both Sheppard and McKay both shouted no at the same time, but for different reasons. McKay appeared behind Ronon.

"You can't shoot the glass out. It's toughened glass. Shoot it out and you'll shoot yourself or worse it'll ricochet and hit me and if you hadn't noticed, I'm needed at this moment in time."

Sheppard sat down and swallowed against nausea. He didn't think either of them noticed because they were both engaged in a heated row over how they were going to get him out of there.

Ronon waited until McKay had disappeared before saying, "What happened?"

"You talked to Lorne."

"I'm asking you."

"I left Major Samuels and his team to check out the facility and flew back to the 'gate to check in. Next thing I know, Samuels is radioing me and saying that they're under fire. I headed back to the facility and there was no sign of them." He hooked a finger over his shoulder. "Found this guy. The rest you know."

Ronon narrowed his eyes. "I know you Sheppard."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"He's tied up. We've still got plenty of oxygen and McKay's working on it."

McKay called out. "Ronon. I need your help."

Ronon sighed and slid off the 'jumper. As he did so, Sheppard tugged out his earpiece and deactivated the comm. Again.

000

Ronon deactivated his earpiece and indicated for McKay to do the same.

"Think we should get a doctor out here."

"For that guy?"

"No. Sheppard. Something isn't right."

McKay lowered the data pad and moved away from the 'jumper. "He's injured?"

"Think he's sick."

"He looked fine to me."

"He's not acting like himself."

"They're low on oxygen. It might be effecting him."

"No," Ronon leaned against the hull. "Something's up. He's hiding something."

"Hmmm."

"Fixed it yet?"

"No. I'm having trouble getting the door open in there. It looks like there's an unauthorised sub-routine in place and I can't break through it."

"Losing your touch?"

"Very funny." McKay rolled his eyes. "I'm still working on it. But you might want to organise the engineers with cutting gear anyway."

McKay groaned and tapped his comm.. "Sheppard?"

There was no answer and he sighed.

"Sheppard?"

Ronon had finished organising engineers and Lorne and his men were helping to set the equipment up at the rear of the 'jumper. McKay was reluctant to start tearing a hole in one of his 'jumpers. Besides, they still had time for him to figure this out. Sheppard wasn't in trouble just yet.

McKay walked to the front and hammered on the glass just as Ronon joined him. He watched Sheppard putting his earpiece back in.

"Why did you take that out?" Mckay snapped irritably. "If you don't have your earpiece in then-"

He paused when Sheppard got closer to them, because he seemed to be sweating a lot. He'd stripped off his tactical gear down to his t-shirt which was also stained with perspiration. Their oxygen supplies were depleting, but there was still enough for them to be comfortable.

"You look terrible."

"Thanks. It's boiling in here."

"It shouldn't be. The temperature in there is actually a little cooler than usual."

McKay shared a worried look with Ronon. It seemed odd that Sheppard hadn't immediately asked if he had fixed the 'jumper.

Instead, Ronon asked the question.

"The 'jumper isn't damaged. It looks like there is some kind of subroutine running in the background that's preventing anything from working. I don't know how it's happened but I can deal with that later. I'll need you to try from in there. There's a tool kit under the passenger seat."

Sheppard didn't immediately move.

"You might want to get it." McKay said. "Are you okay?"

"Like I said, just hot," Sheppard told him.

"I need you to open the panel directly under the flight controls."

They watched Sheppard kneel down to retrieve the kit. He seemed to take a long time in getting upright.

"Okay, Sheppard. The third crystal on your right needs to be swapped with the fifth crystal on your left."

"Is this going to work?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. Would you hurry up? If I can get you out of there I can go back to bed."

Sheppard nodded, but wasn't working with any urgency. McKay looked over his shoulder to where their guest was sitting. He had an oxygen mask on.

"You're supposed to be saving those!"

Sheppard poked his head up from the console. He couldn't quite tell from the glare of the sun, but he the expression in his eyes had turned a little glazed. It was as if he was staring straight through them.

"Sheppard?"

He looked straight at him.

"Get to it."

"I am."

"What are you doing?" McKay asked, when he saw more than two crystals being pulled from the console. "Sheppard!"

Sheppard ignored him.

"That's not what I told you to do."

"What's he doing?" Ronon asked.

"That's wrong. He's-" McKay hit the glass with his fist. "Sheppard!"

"Something's wrong," Ronon told him again and McKay was beginning to get the feeling that he was right. His stomach twisted uncomfortably.

"Sheppard!"

Sheppard rose from the floor slowly and headed back to the rear of the 'jumper. He was standing over the man and from his expression seemed to be shouting.

"He's deactivated his comm link so we can't hear." McKay turned away from the front portal and hailed Lorne. "Get Doctor Keller."

Lorne narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?"

"I think Sheppard's sick."

000

"I'll let you go," Sheppard told Solin. "If you tell me the location of my men. I will let you go. Wherever you want."

"Do not lie to me. You would not put your people at risk."

"Not my people. No."

Solin went quiet and Sheppard wondered if that was it. His chance was gone.

"You hear me?"

Solins voice was muffled when he answered. "No you wouldn't."

Sheppard heard something drip onto the floor. It took him a minute to realise what it was. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and it came away bloody.

The only thing that he had to hand was his t-shirt. He held the hem against his nostril.

Sheppard sagged back against his seat and ignored McKay and now Ronon's shouts. "How long do I have?"

"Not long." Solin answered.

000

"Why did he do that?" Ronon asked, watching as Keller approached with a medical team in tow.

Behind him the metal cutting engineers were wielding an impressive laser and waiting for the go ahead.

"I don't know. Maybe it was a mistake."

"Sheppard doesn't make mistakes like that."

"I know!" McKay snapped, because Ronon was right. He'd taught Sheppard everything he knew after all.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm looking through the data again. Maybe I missed something." He tapped the screen furiously. "I don't know what could have caused a simultaneous failure of the systems like that. There's no radiation, no geological anomalies that would interfere-" he paused on the data stream in front of him and then scrolled back to the beginning. "This 'jumper underwent a systems overhaul a week ago. There shouldn't be any problems with it."

"Obviously there was."

"Obviously. I just can't figure out- oh crap!" He read the data twice before he realised that the code that was blocking his efforts was a complex algorithm. "What the-"

Ronon crowded him. "What is it?"

He turned the data pad to show him. "Do you see this?"

"Looks like a bunch of numbers."

"It's Hodge Conjecture."

Ronon arched his eyebrow.

"This is an earth math problem. Unsolvable." The knot in his stomach tightened. "Sheppard."

"What about him?"

"He deactivated the life support…"

"What?"

McKay's eyes widened. "He must have accidentally done it when he was.." he read through the data again. This couldn't be right.

Ronon was growing impatient. "When?"

"When he activated this sub routine to stop us from getting into the'jumper."

"What? Why would he try to keep us out?"

McKay couldn't believe this. "I don't know. But now the inconsistencies in his story is starting to make sense. He was too close to the 'gate to dial in. He stopped short of it for some reason."

"Can you get him out?"

"Not without breaking this algorithm and it's impossible. I've been working on this equation for years and haven't got any closer to solving it. No one has."

"Cut the door down."

000

Sheppard looked up and saw that McKay was now at the window watching him. Beside him was Doctor Keller. The concern in his eyes and the angry line of his mouth told him everything he needed to know.

He edged closer to the front portal and gave up on maintaining his composure. His knees went weak. He gripped the pilot seat tightly and clamped his eyes shut to stop the world from spinning.

"Are you going to explain what the hell it is that you're doing?"

"I'm sorry guys," he slumped into the seat and rubbed at his bloody nose. "I was trying to stop you from getting in here."

"Evidently!"

"Colonel. You're not well and neither is your passenger by the looks of it. You need to open the rear hatch so that I can help," Keller instructed.

Sheppard rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I can't do that."

"Then we're going to have to cut through the door and you'll owe me a new 'jumper."

"No!" Sheppard said, leaning forward a little too quickly and feeling sick for it. He pushed the queasiness away. "No. You have to stay _out_ of this 'jumper. In fact, you need to leave this planet. All of you. That's an order!"

"You're not thinking straight," Ronon said, coming into view.

"I am. I'm thinking perfectly clear right now. Trust me on this and do not open that door."

"You have little more than five minutes of oxygen left, after that it will be a matter of time before you have no air. No air equals death."

"I know that."

"Well, at least let me help you get that up and running."

"No," Sheppard said. "That wasn't an accident. It's contracted that way."

"What is?" Keller asked, her eyes flicking to McKay and Ronon.

Sheppard lowered his head and sighed heavily. "The virus."

"What virus?" McKay asked.

Sheppard was beginning to look worse by the minute. His nose had been bleeding and now there was blood coming out of his ear. McKay watched it snake down and catch on his neck line.

"I found him in the facility. He was in a glass cell. I opened it without thinking and-" Sheppard paused to cough into his fist. "-turns out the Larnia people were experimenting."

"What kind of experiments?" Keller asked.

"Biological warfare."

Sheppard held his finger up to them and returned with the man from the back.

He pushed him into the pilot seat and they could see the full extent of his condition. This man looked withered. His eyes were blood shot, there was blood coming from his nose, mouth and ears and he was rasping painfully with each breath. It was oxygen deprivation, but not because of the 'jumpers air levels.

"Solin. You explain."

The man, Solin, turned to him and behind the mask smiled.

"Come on. Don't be shy."

Sheppard tugged the oxygen mask down and Solin chuckled. "You're all going to die."

Sheppard slumped back into his chair and rolled his eyes. "Come on. You love telling this story. You won't tell me where my men are, but you like this one. Tell them."

Solin refused to speak.

McKay was growing impatient. "Sheppard."

"He's a carrier of the virus. These carriers go ahead of scavengers to different worlds and infect the population. They die within hours and after that-" he coughed. "You get the picture."

Solin finally spoke and his voice sounded frail. "We are only doing what needs to be done to survive. Our resources are low. With the wraith attacks we need to defend ourselves, get provisions for long periods underground and-" he gasped suddenly.

Sheppard sat bolt upright and shoved the oxygen mask back over his face. "Slow deep breaths. You're not dying on me yet."

"If the virus is airborne then we can get suited up and come and get you."

"I don't want you to take that risk," Sheppard said. "I just want to know where our people were taken before they're subjected to the same experiment."

"But _you_ don't have to die!" McKay snapped.

"We can quarantine you back on Atlantis. This might be something we can treat," Keller told him.

"Listen to me. There is no cure. You cut me out of here and take me back to Atlantis and I'm still going to die and I might infect a few other people on the way. The risk is too great. And all the while time is being wasted."

"But he's not going to tell you!" McKay said. "Look at him!"

"I'm not giving up on those men!"

"They could already be dead."

"Until I see their bodies, it's not over."

"Sheppard. You are not going to die in there." Ronon turned to Keller. "Arrange what you need."

Sheppard slammed his hand against the front console. "Don't do it!"

Lorne appeared from the rear. "You want us to start cutting?"

"No!" Sheppard shouted.

Sheppard couldn't give up. His death couldn't be for nothing. But Solin had nothing to lose. He had already prepared for death. For whatever reason he had accepted his fate and he had no incentive to reveal the location of his missing men.

There was going to be no stopping the others from getting into the 'jumper. He hadn't expected the subroutine to keep them out. But he had thought he could keep his and Solins condition secret long enough to extract the information he needed, without them cutting their way through the rear.

Solin grunted in pain and bent double in his seat. His breathing, despite the oxygen, seemed to be slowing down.

"Not yet," Sheppard told him. "Not yet."

Solin turned to face him. He smiled briefly before going limp in the chair. Sheppard reached forward and could feel that his pulse was slowing and then-

"Don't you dare!"

He activated his earpiece. "Keller!" and set about pulling Solin out of his seat. He positioned him on his back on the floor of the 'jumper and was searching the rear of the ship for the medical kit when Keller answered his hail.

"Colonel?"

"He's stopped breathing," he said. "I need to bring him back."

Keller didn't question him. "Get the defibrillator and charge it to its first setting. You'll need to cut open his shirt and place the pads one above his heart and the other-"

"Okay," Sheppard said. "Got it."

He tore the shirt with his knife, slapped the pads into their correct positions and tugged the oxygen mask off Solin's mouth, prepared to breathe for him if he had to.

He waited impatiently while the defib charged and then pressed the green button that delivered a precise current to Solin's lifeless body.

"What is he doing?"

Sheppard didn't even look up at McKay. He concentrated on getting Solin back. The bastard wasn't allowed to die yet.

"Check his pulse again."

"It's not working," he said when there was still no output.

"Charge to three sixty!" Keller said. "You might need to give him a shot of adrenaline if this fails."

Sheppard pushed the green button again. Solin's body bucked from the floor. Nothing! He charged again and delivered another shock.

"Anything?" Keller asked. He could tell that she was frustrated being out there.

"No."

"I think you might have to accept-"

"He's not dying on me," Sheppard said.

He ditched the defibrillator and started chest compressions.

"He's dead!" McKay said.

"He's. Not. Allowed. To. Die." Sheppard said, slamming both hands down hard into his chest.

Exhausted, he sat back on his heels and tried to catch his own breath. And then the miraculous happened. Solin coughed and his eyelids fluttered open. Sheppard quickly replaced the oxygen mask and increased the flow.

"Let...me die."

"I can't. You're dying for nothing."

"I volunteered. I knew...the risks involved."

"But this doesn't achieve anything. This is pointless. This death is pointless."

"Mine," Solin rasped. "Or yours?"

Sheppard sat back on his heels and looked up to the portal. Keller and McKay were watching him with matching worried expressions.

He couldn't die like this. He had to find reason. Something good had to come from this senseless end. He had to locate those men.

"I'll let you die. You tell me and I'll let you die."

Solin chuckled.

"That's what you want. Right? Just give me an address."

"I do not have an address to give you."

"Come on. A name...something."

"They will be returned to you."

Sheppard leaned forward to hear him. "What?"

"Your men will be returned to you."

"What?"

Solin laughed. "And they'll kill you all." He swallowed thickly and then seemed to choke. Blood was coming out of his mouth. Similarly Sheppard could taste copper at the back of his throat.

"We have hazmat suits," McKay said.

Sheppard met his look with a sigh. "Don't do it, Rodney."

"You're not dying like this."

"I'm already dead."

000

The hazmat suit was cumbersome and uncomfortable but it was a small price to pay. Lorne and his men were starting to cut into the hatch. Sheppard, shortly after Solin had expired, had sat back in the pilot seat. His eyes were closed and his breathing had become laboured. McKay couldn't believe that Sheppard was being so stubborn. With hazmat suits and quarantine the chances of anyone being infected were minimal. But it was a risk that Sheppard wasn't willing to take, borne of his stupid self sacrificing ways.

"Still with us?"

"If they make contact, we can't let them back on Atlantis."

"Who?" Ronon asked.

"Saunders team. They can't return."

He went silent. They all understood.

"Stay with us," Keller said. "We'll be in soon. We're going to take you directly to the infirmary. I'm going to figure this out."

"I can feel it happening," Sheppard said. "Just leave me in here."

"Why are you so intent on dying today? I thought you wanted your death to have meaning. This doesn't."

Ronon elbowed him in the side.

"Well, it's the truth. If there's a chance that we can save you, we should take it. You'd do the same for us."

"No I wouldn't."

"Stop lying."

"This virus, disease...whatever. It took only an hour for me to feel the effects. In a city the size of Atlantis-" he coughed. "It's not worth the risk."

McKay could see the last sparks disappear from the rear.

"You don't have a choice, John."

Minutes later the hatch crumbled inwards, but Sheppard was already gone.

000

Sheppard was surprised when he opened his eyes. Mainly because he had been expecting to be dead. Instead, he was lying in the infirmary and listening to the reassuring beep on the heart monitor.

"I'm not dead," he said, when Keller stepped over McKay's outstretched legs to check his vitals.

"You sound disappointed."

"Just surprised. What happened?"

"You died."

"Then heaven sucks."

Keller patted his arm and smiled. McKay stirred in the chair and looked surprised to see Sheppard staring at him.

"He's awake!" he shouted and seconds later Ronon was coming into view.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but why am I not dead."

McKay said. "Your heart stopped. You were gone."

Keller smiled. " We got you back to the infirmary and managed to get your heart restarted and when we did the virus had gone."

"Gone?"

"Amazing isn't it," McKay said. "It could only happen to you."

"It looks like when the infected die the virus naturally breaks down and fast. It makes sense really. Then the scavengers aren't infected when they start their bootlegging."

McKay snorted out a laugh. "Bootlegging?"

"It's a term people use," Keller said in defence.

"So I was right."

"Sheppard, you were in no way right. What you did was stupid."

"It seemed like the right thing to do. I don't know. Maybe I was thinking straight after all."

"So you're admitting you were wrong then?" McKay said wit a smug nod. "I'll accept your apology."

Keller re-seated his medical chart at the end of his bed. "I'm still running tests. Lorne's team went back to the facility-"

"I ordered him not to."

"We've managed to secure a few samples and useful texts from the facility. I'm hoping to develop an antidote."

"Yeah, something tells me we haven't seen the last of this." Sheppard ran a hand through his hair. He was tired and his muscles aches, but he otherwise felt like he was on the road to recovery. He couldn't believe he had died. Again. And was here to tell the tale. "Saunders team?"

"We haven't heard from them," Ronon said.

"Think you can develop an antidote in the next few days?" Sheppard asked hopefully.

"I don't think it's going to be that easy."

Keller patted his leg through his blanket and headed off to get him some food. McKay and Ronon lingered.

"I can't believe you sometimes," McKay said.

Sheppard shrugged. "I just wanted something good to come out of it."

"You should get some rest," McKay told him. "You look like hell."

"Thanks."

McKay walked away and Ronon said. "Something good did come of it. You're alive." before leaving.

000

Ronon caught up to McKay in the hallway. He had bumped into Teyla who was heading in to see Sheppard.

"Do you think we should have told him?" McKay asked and Ronon could tell he was feeling guilty.

"Not yet."

"He'll find out."

"Let him feel good for one night."

"That won't last long. When he finds out that Saunders team already checked in and we had to inform them of their fate-"

"He has to learn that he can't save everyone," he said. "Has to realise he's got to save himself now and again."

"You're talking about Sheppard."

"I know."

"He can't help himself. It's like a sickness in itself."

Ronon patted his shoulder hard. "That's why we stick around."


End file.
